Anti-corruption in the judicial community of the Russian Federation: international experience and the "special Chinese model"
In the article, the author provides a comparative analysis of the legislative support for combating corruption in the judicial community of the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China, notes the importance of fulfilling international obligations in this area and highlights government measures aimed at combating corruption of judges in the country and their features in the Chinese model.
Keywords: anti-corruption, judicial community, international acts, prohibitions and restrictions, judge's responsibility, measures to combat corruption of judges.
In the modern world, in the context of globalization, most countries, including Russia and China, pay special attention to improving and consolidating the status of the judiciary through legislative improvement of legal mechanisms, including in the field of combating corruption.
International cooperation between Russia and China in the field of combating corruption in the judicial community is an important step in the process of forming mechanisms for the manifestation of corruption phenomena, developing bilateral international acts defining the status, tasks, powers, and organization of scientific and practical measures to prevent crimes by judges.
The morality, honesty and integrity of judicial bodies (judges and court staff) are given special importance to society in strengthening trust in the legality and validity of court decisions and sentences. The fundamental international legal document in the field of combating corruption in Russia is the United Nations Convention against Corruption of October 31, 2003 (ratified by Federal Law of March 8, 2006 <1> and entered into force on March 27, 2006).
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<1> Federal Law No. 40-FZ of March 8, 2006 "On Ratification of the United Nations Convention against Corruption" // Rossiyskaya Gazeta. 2006. March 21st.
China recognized the United Nations Convention against Corruption on December 10, 2003 (ratified on January 13, 2006), the international act entered into force on February 12, 2006, and then adjusted national criminal and criminal procedure legislation, consolidated international standards in judicial activities (chapter III "Criminalization and law enforcement", as well as chapter IV "International cooperation") <2>.
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<2> Truntsevsky Yu.V., Sevalnev V.V., Sukharenko A.N. Anti-corruption in China: legislation and law enforcement: Monograph. M.: Prospect, 2021. p. 70.
According to Russian scientists <3>, international cooperation between countries in the field of combating corruption, including in the framework of ensuring legal mechanisms of justice, should be comprehensive and not be confined within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (hereinafter - SCO), APEC, BRICS, G20.
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<3> Truntsevsky Yu.V., Sevalnev V.V. Prospects of international cooperation between the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China in the field of anti-corruption // International public and private law. 2016. N 6. pp. 30-34.
As the analysis of scientific research by Chinese scientists and Russian specialists shows <4>, it is necessary to reach a new level of international cooperation. According to the authors, joint explanations of some issues of the application of laws in criminal cases related to corruption, the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China and the Supreme People's Prosecutor's Office of the People's Republic of China play an important role in law enforcement practice in corruption cases, and judicial rulings make it possible to correctly qualify criminal acts and impose punishment for their commission. At the same time, according to experts on corruption legislation, controversial approaches remain in the criminal policy of the People's Republic of China to the issue of mitigation of punishment, its correlation with the public danger of an illegal act. In their opinion, the severity of punishment in China is not an end in itself, it is subordinated to other value aspirations, and the reduction of cases of the death penalty is an international trend, therefore, the absolute use of the death penalty for corruption and bribery in China is gradually becoming a thing of the past.
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<4> Zhu Xiaoqing. Implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption in China // The rule of law and the fight against corruption. Beijing, 2015. p. 152; Liu Renwen, Sevalnev V.V. Changing the rules of qualification and sentencing for corruption crimes under the criminal legislation of the People's Republic of China // Jurisprudence. 2019. Vol. 63. N 2. pp. 228-239, etc.
The prevention of corruption in judicial activity is an important area of Chinese statehood, and corruption in this environment must be strictly suppressed, although, for example, in Singapore it is almost finished, researcher P.V. Troshchinsky states, but at the same time exclaims: "Does the Russian scientific community know what methods the victory was achieved?"So, the Prime Minister of Singapore receives several million dollars a year, not counting the fact that he is fully dependent on officials. Highly paid officials are also representatives of the judicial community (judges).
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<5> Troshchinsky P.V. Normative and legal regulation of the struggle of the modern state against corruption // Actual problems of Russian law. 2016. N 2(63). p. 171.
Indeed, China's law-making experience in combating corruption among judges is important for domestic legal science, and special attention is paid to two aspects - prevention and the inevitability of punishment for corruption crimes. So, for the first time in China, the judge of the Supreme Court of China, Huang Songyu, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2010. A former judge of such high rank, Huang Sonyu, was accused of embezzlement and accepting a bribe in the amount of almost $800,000. The former judge accepted money from the law firm for making decisions in court in accordance with the interests of the firm in the period from 2005 to 2008. In addition, Huang Songyu was charged with embezzlement of money from public funds when he headed a municipal court in southern Guangdong Province in 1997.
The judge admitted his guilt during the investigation, and most of the bribes and embezzled funds were reimbursed, but this did not save him from life imprisonment. Huang Sonyu was expelled from the Communist Party, in which he previously belonged, and in addition, he was deprived of the right to ever hold the post of judge. This is the first case in the country when a judge of this rank is found guilty of corruption <6>.
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<6> Lakeeva E. How to deal with corrupt judges in different countries. 2014. January 21st.
Experts believe that at the present stage, the strengthening of the fight against corruption in China's law enforcement agencies will only intensify, so it is not surprising that in 2020, according to the Wall Street Journal, which did not disclose the sources of information, the prosecutor's office and the judiciary were also purged, in addition to quite effective police.
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<7> Manukov S. There is a new wave of anti-corruption in China. 2020. August 20th.
The events of recent days show that the recently widespread opinion that Chinese President and CPC General Secretary Xi Jinping has dealt with all competitors and opponents is not entirely true. Naturally, there is also widespread corruption in the security structures of the People's Republic of China, which the Chinese leader has been fighting since his first day in power.
Of course, this is not the first time Comrade Xi has turned his attention to law enforcement officers and judges with prosecutors. It is enough to recall the news that sounded like a bolt from the blue about the arrest of Zhou Yongkai, a member of the holy of holies of Chinese power - the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee, who was responsible for the work of all power structures of the Celestial Empire and was considered one of the most powerful Chinese leaders. Zhou Yongkai was sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption in 2015. Xi Jinping ordered a new purge to his supporter, Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Commission Chen Yixin.
According to the Xinhua News Agency, a meeting of the Central Commission of the Communist Party of China for Discipline Inspection, including among the judiciary, was held in Beijing on January 22-24, 2020. The communique sets out the task of making tireless efforts to improve the party style, create an incorruptible apparatus and fight corruption, and ensure the fulfillment of the goals and objectives set for the period of the 14th five-year plan (2021-2025), where a significant role is assigned to the Supreme People's Court of China.
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<8> China has promised to fight corruption relentlessly. 2021. January 25th.
At the meeting, it was decided to deepen the anti-corruption campaign and comprehensively develop a system in which officials, including judges, will be discouraged from committing corrupt acts, paying special attention to the investigation of corruption cases in which political and economic issues are intertwined.
The Chinese leadership demanded strict control over the implementation of the rules related to the conduct of business by the spouses and children of senior officials and the spouses of their children.
In addition, the meeting participants called for combating corruption and various manifestations of a vicious work style, encouraging compliance with the principles of social equality and justice, and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the masses. The communique calls for improving the coordination of disciplinary inspections at different levels, fully involving internal party and public control, combining various forms of supervision and reforming the system of disciplinary inspection and supervision, as well as promoting "inclusive internal party and state supervision".
At the meeting, the task was set to carry out strict self-control, create "iron teams" of disciplinary verification and supervision, which will be loyal, clean, professional and with a strong sense of political honesty and responsibility. The statement stresses the need to strengthen the fight against "long-standing manifestations of formalism and bureaucracy," as well as "curbing hedonism and the craving for luxury."
Recently, the Xinhua press <9> reported that on March 8, 2021, at the 4th session of the National People's Congress of the 13th convocation, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme Prosecutor's Office of China reported on the results of the fight against corruption in the country over the past year. According to the VNC report, in 2020, a total of 22 thousand cases of embezzlement, bribery and dereliction of duty involving 26 thousand people, including 12 officials at the ministerial level, illegal assets totaling 1.15 billion yuan ($177.5 million) were confiscated. USA), and 164 fugitives have been put on the wanted list.
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<9> The judicial and prosecutor's offices of China resolutely fought corruption // Russian News. CN (Xinhua News Agency). 2021. March 8th.
At the same politically significant event for the state, the Supreme People's Court of China proposed a plan to combat corruption in the judicial community by creating "smart courts" in the administration of legal proceedings, the National People's Congress approved it and approved the roadmap for the modernization of the legal system of the People's Republic of China by 2025 <10>.
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<10> Volkov K. Judgment and intelligence // Rossiyskaya gazeta. 2021. March 15th.
Thus, Intelligence will analyze huge amounts of information and give recommendations to the judge, taking into account all the circumstances of the case, render verdicts adopted with the help of artificial intelligence, simplify judicial procedures, exercise control over judges and thereby increase confidence in the proceedings. It should be noted that in China, the possibilities of using artificial intelligence (hereinafter - AI) in court have been studied since 2014, and since that time hundreds of millions of court cases have been digitized, which were used in whole or in fragments for artificial intelligence software.
In December 2020, a competition was held in China, where 16 lawyers competed with AI in analyzing legal contracts - one of the most difficult and tedious types of cases in judicial practice. As a result, the AI examined five documents in one minute and found more risky moments in the documents than representatives of the judiciary, who spent 30 minutes for the same purpose. Since April 2020, AI has replaced live assistants in ten courts in Shanghai, taking over the transcription of audio recordings of trials, providing evidence in digital form, as well as searching for the right pages and links in documents.
At the same time, it is necessary to pay tribute to the fact that the Council of Judges of the Russian Federation takes an active part in international dialogue, contributes to the fulfillment of international obligations, including with the People's Republic of China, while having distinctive features of legislative support for combating corruption in the judicial environment.
As N.A. Petukhov and E.V. Ryabtseva correctly point out <11>, in the activities of judicial authorities, several areas can be identified to prevent anti-corruption and the emergence of conflicts of interest inherent in the Russian regulatory framework.
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<11> Petukhov N.A., Ryabtseva E.V. Prevention and counteraction of corruption in judicial activity: A scientific and practical guide. M.: RGUP, 2018. pp. 95-97.
1. Development of preventive measures to prevent corruption in judicial activity and organizational measures to prevent corruption violations in judicial activity.
According to scientists, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation <12>, as well as the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation <13>, as well as the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China, constantly carry out measures to prevent corruption and other offenses and ensure control over compliance by judges and the staff of judges with prohibitions, restrictions and requirements established in order to combat corruption, including the prevention and (or) settlement of conflicts of interest.
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<12> The Anti-Corruption Plan of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation for 2021-2023 years .
<13> Order of the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated December 28, 2020 No. 260 "On approval of the Anti-Corruption Plan in the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation for 2021.
The Supreme Judicial Authority of Russia and the Judicial Department under the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation constantly monitor legislation in the field of combating corruption in judicial activities, summarize law enforcement practice and judicial statistics, carry out anti-corruption expertise of draft local documents and many other activities.
Measures related to ensuring the publication on the websites of judicial authorities of various jurisdictions of Declarations on income and property, both judges and their family members, are quite important.
In the same way, non-procedural appeals are posted on the website of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and on the official websites of lower courts.
2. Procedural measures for the organization of work to prevent and combat corruption in judicial activities.
In order to organize anti-corruption work in the court, Commissions are being established to comply with the requirements for the official conduct of federal civil servants and to resolve conflicts of interest between the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and commissions in the courts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation <14>.
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<14> Petukhov N.A., Ryabtseva E.V. Decree. op. pp. 33-51.
3. Methods of detecting and preventing corrupt behavior.
As scientists N.A. Petukhov and E.V. Ryabtseva rightly point out <15>, timely detection of corruption offenses and settlement of conflicts of interest in the activities of judges and civil servants of the court apparatus are a key element of combating corruption.
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<15> Petukhov N.A., Ryabtseva E.V. Decree. op. pp. 74-90.
Making changes to the current legislation is not enough to effectively combat corruption in judicial activity, since corrupt behavior can take various forms, and sometimes judicial practice is forced to be guided by the actual circumstances of the case.
In this regard, in law enforcement judicial activity, it is possible to use various methods in determining the presence of corrupt behavior and (or) identifying the prerequisites for corrupt behavior, but all of them must fit into the current legislation on combating corruption.
Preventing corrupt behavior is the most effective way to combat corruption in the judicial system.
4. Improvement of measures of responsibility for corruption offenses within the framework of current legislation.
Thus, on March 10, 2021, the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation adopted in the first reading the draft Federal Law No. 1078992-7 "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation regarding the improvement of liability measures for corruption offenses" <16>.
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<16> Draft Federal Law No. 1078992-7 "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation regarding the improvement of liability measures for corruption offenses."
The draft law provides for circumstances exempting judges from liability for non-compliance with restrictions and prohibitions, requirements for the prevention or settlement of conflicts of interest and non-fulfillment of duties established by federal and other legislation in order to combat corruption, if non-compliance with such restrictions, prohibitions and requirements, as well as non-fulfillment of such duties is recognized as a consequence of circumstances beyond his control and it must be provided by a judge no later than one month from the date of termination of the independent circumstances.
Such circumstances, in particular, include: natural disasters (including earthquake, flood, hurricane), fire, mass diseases (epidemics), strikes, military actions, terrorist acts, prohibitive or restrictive measures taken by state bodies (foreign states) and local governments.
The qualification boards of judges (hereinafter referred to as CCCs) of the subjects of the Federation are authorized to establish a causal relationship between the occurrence of these circumstances and the inability to comply with such restrictions, prohibitions and requirements, as well as the performance of such duties by a judge.
Within three working days, if circumstances are established that prevent compliance with restrictions and prohibitions, requirements for the prevention or settlement of conflicts of interest and the performance of duties, in order to combat corruption, a judge must submit a written application to the qualification board of judges with documents, other materials and information (if available) confirming the occurrence of independent It depends on the circumstances. The specified notification may be submitted by an official authorized by the qualification board of judges.
Thus, the draft law complies with national legislation and the provisions of international treaties of the Russian Federation in the implementation of international principles of combating corruption in the administration of justice, and in comparison with the "special Chinese model" <17>, ways to achieve goals in overcoming corruption in the future are proposed.
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<17> Smirnova L.N. The fight against corruption and political reform in China: international experience and the Chinese model // International Life. 2014. N 8. pp. 63-77; Her own. The principle of transparency and the fight against corruption in China: World experience and the "special Chinese model" // China in World and Regional Politics. History and modernity. 2013. Issue XVIII. pp. 353-362.
